Monterrey (Mexico) October 30 (EFE).- In order to monitor the health of migrants moving through the northeastern region of Mexico, the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (UANL), in collaboration with 20 other institutions, has designed a digital clinical file that will monitor the physical and the psychological state of those people.
María Elena Ramos, a doctor at the Faculty of Social Work and Human Development of the UANL, as well as the technical manager of the project, explained to EFE that this digital file will enable a permanent and permanent record of health care for migrants.
“That registration is not something that is being implemented at the moment. We can say in principle yes in Mexico, but we are also convinced that it is not an exercise that was done in some other regions as well”, he noted.
The expert stated that this work started in 2020 through a call launched by the National Council for Science and Technology (Conacyt) and involves various actors such as civil society organizations, government agencies and the academic sector.
“Last year, the most comprehensive proposal was launched and we combined the efforts of 20 institutions from the northeastern region of Mexico and the southern United States, especially the Valley region,” he specified.
He added that since the file is digital, it will make it possible to travel with groups of migrants.
“As the name suggests, it’s a file that, being digital, also travels with them,” he said.
He noted that the tool will be very useful considering the growth that the shift in the flow of migrants has had.
“Each time we see more and more people in these cities, so the idea is to create these records, to keep these health care records,” he specified.
He pointed out that information is collected through partners such as shelters and institutions such as Supera or Caritas de Monterrey, which have health centers.
“This is how this collection of information is done, and in the second phase, which will be next year, it will be in the Texas Valley, there we already have, for example, the Red Cross and the agency for social development, who will serve as allies. And colleagues from Texas are had contact with the consulates”, he explained.
Also, another institution that joined the project is the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Ramos stated that this digital clinical file is expected to become an instrument for generating public policies for migrants.
PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH
The researcher explained that although migrants are thought to be healthy people, they often have chronic diseases or some develop them during the migration process.
“What we found is that there are types of persistent diseases and some that are not persistent but develop in the process,” he said.
He pointed out that chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart attack can be controlled in this sense.
“These are diseases that travel with them, although it is true that they do not develop due to the migration process, but we know that these are diseases that sometimes still have to do with the tensions and problems that a person experiences during transit,” he said. commented.
In addition, he said, the monitoring of the file includes mental health.
“The mental and emotional health effects experienced by the migrant population are significant; problems of anxiety, depression or more general aspects of socio-emotional well-being. This is another contribution, the file does not refer to physical health, but what is called looking at health from a holistic perspective”, he pointed out. EFE
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